Jersey beaches snuffing out smoking

Mar. 14, 2014
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Luciano Rodia, left, of Woodland Park, N.J. builds sand castles with his mother, Laurie Rodia, on the beach in Belmar, N.J. New Jersey lawmakers are scheduled to vote next week on a bill that would ban smoking on the state's public beaches and parks. / Wayne Parry, AP

by Dan Radel, Asbury Park (N.J.) Press

by Dan Radel, Asbury Park (N.J.) Press

ASBURY PARK, N.J. -- Belmar is on its way to becoming the next Jersey Shore town to ban smoking on its beaches, but one group says the anti-smoking movement has gone so far that government is re-engineering society to eliminate smoker freedoms.

It may not be too long before the anti-smoking ban is statewide. A bill is pending in the Legislature that would stamp out smoking at all public beaches and parks in the state, in what one assemblywoman called an effort "to change the culture of the next generation."

"It's the right thing to do. It's clearly in the public interest to expand these laws," said Democratic Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle, the primary sponsor of the bill, which is up for a vote in the Assembly next week.

At least 18 beaches in the state had banned smoking as of 2011, the latest year for which figures are available, but one group sees the prohibition as social engineering and unnecessary government intrusion on civil rights.

"They're attempting to de-normalize smoking," said Michael J. McFadden, the Mid-Atlantic regional director for Citizens Freedom Alliance, a smoker's rights group. "Now, if you want to smoke, they're going to make it so difficult for you that you have to go hide behind a dumpster."

Some smokers say they already know the feeling.

"I'll come off the beach to smoke," said Natalie Ford, 22, of Jackson. "I won't do it in people's faces. I hide it if I'm passing a baby."

Even some nonsmokers sympathize with the smokers.

"The roped-off areas on the beach are stupid," Anna Wassil, 77, of Belmar, said of the designated smoking areas currently on Belmar's beaches. "They (smokers) look so embarrassed, standing there."

McFadden, author of "Dissecting Antismokers' Brains" and "TobakkoNacht - The Antismoking Endgame," said that 20 to 30 years ago, one would be hard pressed to find people who would be bothered by a whiff of tobacco smoke outdoors.

He said that if lawmakers pass Huttle's bill, they'll only go further.

"Remember, first anti-smokers wanted a section on the plane (banned of smoking). Then, they wanted the whole plane," McFadden said. "Then, they took the entire airport terminal."

The bill is pending a full vote of the Assembly. Violators would face fines of $250 for the first offense; $500 for the second; and $1,000 for each subsequent offense.

Huttle said the timing is right for the bill's passage because the number of smokers are dwindling.

"Some people will say their civil rights are infringed on by not allowing them to smoke, but it's the same argument used by those who don't want to be exposed to the smoke," Huttle said.

Smoking bans have rolled through the Jersey Shore beaches for several years, with privately run and municipal beaches - such as Ocean Grove and Seaside Park - enacting smoking prohibitions on their sand.

Since then, other towns have been following suit.

In Delaware earlier this week, Rehoboth became the last major ocean resort in that state to ban smoking on its beaches, adding in a boardwalk ban for good measure.

"It's seems to be catching on. When we were kicking it around, we had more people come to the meetings and speak out for nonsmoking than we did for smoking," said Seaside Heights Mayor William Akers.

Seaside Heights originally had limited smoking to areas set aside at the top of the beach within 20 feet of the boardwalk. Akers said that wasn't entirely effective because winds carried the smoke out of the designated spots and cigarette butts continued to litter the beach.

Earlier this month, Belmar Mayor Matthew Doherty said the Borough Council will consider a proposal at its April 1 meeting to stamp out smoking.

"We're sort of catching up with some other beaches on this, to be completely 100 percent smoke-free," said Doherty.

"It's ridiculous," George Heim, 72, of Wall, said on the Asbury Park Press Facebook page about the ban. "(You're) outdoors with the wind blowing. Doesn't hurt anything."

Smokers have been losing ground since the 2006 Smoke Free Air Act banned smoking from indoor public places - such as restaurants and bars and workplaces.

Robert Mathies Jr,. mayor of Seaside Park, where smoking was prohibited on the beach and boardwalk four years ago, said the ban has made for cleaner beaches.

"We do a lot of beach sweeps and it's getting more difficult to fine a filter on the beach," Mathies said.